Australia v England

At Adelaide, January 19, 2003 (day/night). Australia won by four wickets. Australia 5 pts, England 1 pt. Toss: England. One-day international debut: M. J. Clarke.

A slow pitch and ferociously hot weather produced a woeful match, and England qualified for the finals despite their worst performance so far. Bracken helped reduce England to 71 for six, before Collingwood led a partial recovery. In reply, Australia lost their openers cheaply, and grinding, attritional cricket set in. With even spectators being treated for heat exhaustion, Anderson defied the conditions, bowled his overs straight off and conceded only 12 runs, England's cheapest ten-over spell since Ian Botham's two for 12 against Pakistan at the 1992 World Cup. Bevan and Martyn spurned attack, and Australia failed to win inside 40 overs - giving England the bonus point that guaranteed them, not Sri Lanka, a place in the finals - but Michael Clarke, making his debut in a heavily depleted side, played more positively to inch Australia towards victory.

Man of the Match: N. W. Bracken